244 



•NATURE 



[August 26, 1Q09 



three years ago, Dr. Keller advanced his views on the 

 origin of domesticated animals. The present little 

 work is an abstract of the larger one, and gives only 

 the most meagre outline of the evidence on this diffi- 

 cult subject. The time has not \-et arrived when 

 such a work can be successfully written. \\'e know 

 far too little to establish conclusions on the origin 

 of most of our familiar animals, and we can only 

 recommend this work on a most interesting subject with 

 considerable reserve. Prof. Ewart's work on horses 

 appears to be unknown to the author. The book 

 has no index. 



(s) The general scheme of this primer is excel- 

 lently devised. Beginning with a sketch of function, 

 the author passes on to differentiation. The values, 

 transformations, and elaboration of food-stuffs are 

 next dealt with, and a special section is given to 

 " sensitivity." The adaptations of organisms are 

 briefly considered, and a short account of reproduction 

 is given. The primer concludes with a sketch of the 

 theory of natural selection. Such a concise statement 

 of the general principles of animal and plant life 

 should be of considerable use to teachers of elementary 

 science. 



The value of the book would have been increased 

 by better illustrations. .Many of those emploved (for 

 example, Nos. 8, 9, 18, 19," 37, 40, and 47)' are so 

 incompletely described as to Icse much of their value. 

 The figure of Padina (Fig. 2) is extremely vague. 

 The text as a whole is what we should expect from 

 such an e.xperienced teacher as Prof. Harvey Gibson, 

 and it has had the benefit of revision from his col- 

 leagues. The account of the destruction of life as illus- 

 trated by a dinner (p. 114) is perhaps open to criticism. 

 The benefits of cultivation in increasing the number 

 and variety of edible organisms are not pointed out. 

 Moreover, in contrast to wild species, the individuals 

 of cultivated ones" have surely not remained " fairly 

 constant " in numbers. Demand has in this case 

 created supply. So far from illustrating natural 

 selection, such an example seems to typifv artificial 

 selection. The statement ;.bout green Hydra on p. 43 

 goes beyond our present knowledge. 



SOUK .V£]F ELECTRICAL BOOKS. 

 (i) The Bell Telephone. The Deposition of A. G. 

 Bell in the Suit brought by the United States to 

 annul the Bell Patents. Pp. iv+469. (Boston : 

 The .American Bell Telephone Co., igo8.) 



(2) H01V Telegraphs and Telephones Work. Ex- 

 plained in non-technical language by C. R. Gibson. 

 Pp. vi-M56. (London : .Seeley and Co., Ltd., 1909.) 

 Price IS. 6d. net. 



(3) Technical Electricity. By H. T. Davidge and 

 R. W. Hutchinson. Second edition. Pp. .xi+539. 

 (Cambridge : L'niversity Tutorial Press, Ltd., 1909.) 

 Price 4^. 6d. 



(1) 'T'HE printing of the full deposition made by 

 J- ]Mr. Bell in the suit brought by the United 

 States to annul the Bell telephone patents doubtless 

 furnishes a valuable historical record of the experi- 

 ments which led to the invention of the telephone, 

 and, smce the deposition was never otificially printed, 

 NO. 2078, VOL. 81] 



the .American Bell Telephone Co. has performed a 

 useful service in the publication of this book. To' 

 any who may still be interested in the legal aspects- 

 of the case the book should also prove valuable. But 

 for the general reader, even when specially interested 

 in telephony, the verbatim report of a legal examina- 

 tion and cross-examination is a very unsatisfactory: 

 medium for conveying information. The constant 

 repetitions, the frequent insistence on what must be 

 regarded from the broader point of view as whollv 

 irrelevant details, and, above all, the clumsiness of 

 a dialogue devoid of literary merit, make very poor 

 reading, and one is liable to be overcome with ennui 

 before anv salient points have been g'leaned. 



By judicious, if comprehensive, skipping, however,, 

 many facts of both scientific and general interest 

 may be obtained from this volume, and to many the 

 detailed descriptions of the earlier struggles and 

 difficulties leading to an invention of enormous 

 utility and importance will have a particular fascina- 

 tion. It is only to be regretted that the book was. 

 not written in consecutive narrative form, thougb 

 possibly some of its value as a record might have- 

 been sacrificed thereby. 



(2) That Mr. Gibson has an aptitude for the de- 

 scription in non-technical language of the achieve- 

 ments of modern technology has been amply proved' 

 by his earlier books which have been reviewed ini 

 these columns. The present small volume shares the 

 merits of its predecessors. The very large degree tO' 

 which the telegraph and telephone enter into the- 

 daily life of the community should make this book 

 particularly useful, and it should find a large circle- 

 of readers. The book is more or less an amplifica- 

 tion of the chapters dealing with this branch in 

 earlier more general books. The subjects covered' 

 are telegraphy and telephony, both with wires and 

 without; there is a short chapter on lightning, the 

 reason for the inclusion of which " by request " does- 

 not seem clear, and three concluding chapters of a 

 more general character on electrical units and theory.- 

 The volume is well printed and illustrated. 



(3) This text-book was originally published in- 

 1906, and the present is the third impression. .Ad- 

 vantage has been taken of the new edition to bring- 

 some parts of the book more up to date, but the re- 

 vision has not been very thorough, as reference to- 

 the chapter on lamps (in which there has been very 

 marked progress since 1906) will show. The 

 tungsten lamp is allotted seven lines of small print, 

 but the osmium lamp, almost if not quite defunct, 

 remains in possession of what we presuine was its 

 original position in the main text. The whole- 

 chapter on lamps seems to us poor ; the drawing of 

 an arc in Fig. 128 is purely imaginary, and the 

 authors would do well to refer to Mrs. .Ayrton's book 

 before they issue their next edition ; the section on 

 flame arcs and the reference to the Bremer arc lamp 

 lead us to the conclusion that the authors have no 

 correct idea of the real difference between the flame 

 and the ordinary arc. 



It is perhaps somewhat unkind to take exceptioi* 

 to such errors in what is only one chapter amongst 

 four-and-twenty. But it is deplorable that a text- 



